Dean Rudrud, head coach of the Eden Prairie High School tennis team,  must be a good poker player.

If he knew he had the best tennis team in the state, he never let on.

Wednesday, Rudrud's Eagles won Eden Prairie High School's first State Tennis Tournament team title, winning 6-1 over Wayzata in the semifinals and then 6-1 over Eagan in the championship match.

In beating Eagan, the Eagles showed how much their program has improved.

Three weeks ago, Eden Prarie defeated Eagan by a score of 5-2. In the process, they clinched  a share of the Lake Conference title.

Wednesday, the stakes were higher. And as you might expect, the Wildcats took a different tact. Instead of going at Eden Prairie with the same lineup they used during that 5-2 loss, Eagan loaded up on doubles. The thought was to win a point at singles and then sweep the three doubles points.

In the past, that strategy might have worked, but not this year and not with this team.

Wednesday, Eden Prairie's three doubles teams were up to the task, beating Eagan in three sets at No. 1 doubles, at No. 2 doubles and then again at No. 3 doubles.

And oh yeah, they won their No. 1 singles, No. 2 singles and No. 3 singles matches with ease (they only lost one game in three matches).

If Rudrud knew Eagan was going to go all in with this doubles strategy, he never let on. Instead, he called their bluff.     

Eden Prairie 6, Eagan 1

 Singles: 1. Scott Elsass, EP, def. Vishal Yelsetti, E, 6-0, 6-0. 2. David Zhou, EP, def. Brian Fisk, E, 6-1, 6-0. 3. Salam Bachour, EP, def. Ben Ekstein, E, 6-0, 6-0. 4. Zach Ekstein, E, def. Sam Doud, EP, 7-6 (3), 7-5.

Doubles: 1. Bradley Malmsten & Alexander Tollefson, EP, def. Justin Abrams & Anthony Lutovsky, E, 2-6, 7-5, 6-4 2. Michael Chen & Yiding Hou, EP def. Logan Peterson & Brady Radamacher, E, 1-6, 6-2, 6-2 3.John Moen & Kelvin Gu, EP, def. Drew Nichols & Brendan Hollidge, E 7-6, 5-7, 1-0 (5).